To achieve an increased access to subscribers in a mobile cellular network with a plurality of service areas each covered by a related switching center, in each such switching center (10) there is provided an interface means (12) to establish a plurality of communication channels between the switching center (10) and a mobile station (MS) roaming in the service area of switching center (10). Further, the communication channel assignment at the interface (12) is changed through an assignment means (14) processing assignment requests submitted thereto. Further, reservation requests are used to indicate to the switching center (10) that a specific subscriber wants to reserve communication channel capacity for a specific cell in a mobile cellular network during a specific time period according to a specific bandwidth. If this bandwidth is available at the specified cell during the specified period of time, it will be reserved for the requesting subscriber which then may easily initiate calls-services or receive calls-services by the reserved communication channel capacity at the start time (ts) of the prespecified period of time.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A switching center for a mobile cellular network, comprising: interface means adapted to establish at least one communication channel between said switching center and at least one mobile station roaming in at least one cell of said mobile cellular network; assignment means adapted to change a communication channel assignment at said interface means upon an assignment request from a subscriber, each assignment request specifying at least a target position and a communication capacity change, respectively; and communication capacity reservation means adapted to reserve a specific communication capacity to at least one target position during a prespecified period of time upon receipt of a reservation request.
2. The switching center according to claim 1 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to activate said assignment means at the beginning of said prespecified period of time in accordance with said reservation request.
3. The switching center according to claim 2 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to drop established communication channels due to an activation of said assignment means at said beginning of said prespecified period of time in accordance with said reservation request.
4. The switching center according to claim 3 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to issue an announcement before dropping an established communication channel.
5. A switching center for a mobile cellular network, comprising: interface means adapted to establish at least one communication channel between said switching center and at least one mobile station roaming in at least one cell of said mobile cellular network; assignment means adapted to change a communication channel assignment at said interface means upon an assignment request from a subscriber, each assignment specifying at least a target position and a communication capacity change, respectively, and communication capacity reservation means adapted to reserve a specific communication capacity to at least one target position during a prespecified period of time upon receipt of a reservation request; wherein said communication capacity reservation means comprises a data base means adapted to store at least said reserved communication channel capacity, said communication channel target positions, and said prespecified period of time of each reservation request.
6. The switching center according to claim 5 , wherein said data base means further stores a priority value being a measure of probability that said assignment means is activated at the beginning of said prespecified period of time in accordance with said reservation request.
7. The switching center according to claim 5 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to activate said assignment means at the beginning of said prespecified period of time in accordance with said reservation request.
8. The switching center according to claim 7 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to drop established communication channels due to an activation of said assignment means at said beginning of said prespecified period of time in accordance with said reservation request.
9. The switching center according to claim 8 , wherein said communication capacity reservation means is further adapted to issue an announcement before dropping an established communication channel.
10. A switching center for a mobile cellular network, comprising: interface means adapted to establish at least one communication channel between said switching center and at least one mobile station roaming in at least one cell of said mobile cellular network; assignment means adapted to change a communication channel assignment at said interface means upon an assignment request from a subscriber, each assignment request specifying at least a target position and a communication capacity change, respectively, and communication capacity reservation means adapted to reserve a specific communication capacity to at least one target position during a prespecified period of time upon receipt of a reservation request; wherein said communication capacity reservation means further comprises a request checking means adapted to check on the admissibility of a request submitted to said switching center in accordance with cell positions covered by said switching center and being affected by said request and also in accordance with a capacity assignment profile of said affected cell positions.
11. The switching center according to claim 10 , wherein said request checking means rejects a request in case a maximum acceptance time is exceeded.
12. The switching center according to claim 11 , wherein said request checking means rejects a request in case an authorization may not be validated.
13. A switching center for a mobile cellular network, comprising: interface means adapted to establish at least one communication channel between said switching center and at least one mobile station roaming in at least one cell of said mobile cellular network; assignment means adapted to change a communication channel assignment at said interface means upon an assignment request from a subscriber, each assignment request specifying at least a target position and a communication capacity change, respectively; and communication capacity reservation means adapted to reserve a specific communication capacity to at least one target position during a prespecified period of time upon receipt of a reservation request; wherein said communication capacity reservation means further comprises location mapping means adapted to map a geographical information specified in said reservation request into the at least one target position.
14. The switching center according to claim 13 , wherein said location mapping means is also adapted to derive the at least one target position from routing information specified in said reservation request.
15. A switching center for a mobile cellular network, comprising: interface means adapted to establish at least one communication channel between said switching center and at least one mobile station roaming in at least one cell of said mobile cellular network; assignment means adapted to change a communication channel assignment at said interface means upon an assignment request from a subscriber, each assignment request specifying at least a target position and a communication capacity change, respectively; and communication capacity reservation means adapted to reserve a specific communication capacity to at least one target position during a prespecified period of time upon receipt of a reservation request; wherein said switching center is the mobile services switching center (MSC) of a GSM cellular mobile network and that the requests are received via unstructured supplementary service data dialogue messages (USSD).
16. A method to reserve communication capacity between at least one switching center in cellular mobile network and a mobile station roaming in said cellular mobile network, said method comprising the steps of: receiving at said switching center a request, from a subscriber using said mobile station (MS), for communication capacity; deriving cells covered by said switching center and being affected through said received request; determining a match between a communication capacity assignment profile and said requested communication capacity for all affected cells; and reserving a communication channel according to said requested communication capacity between said switching center and said mobile station (MS) at a start time prespecified in said request for communication capacity.
17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein said step of determining further comprises the step of checking if there exists communication capacity reservation within the time frame defined through said start time and an end time of said received request for communication capacity, respectively.
18. A method to reserve communication capacity between at least one switching center in cellular mobile network and a mobile station roaming in said cellular mobile network, said method comprising the steps of: receiving from said switching center a request, from a subscriber using said mobile station (MS), for communication capacity; deriving cells covered by said switching center and being affected through said received request; determining a match between a communication capacity assignment profile and said requested communication capacity for all affected cells; and reserving a communication channel according to said requested communication capacity between said switching center and said mobile station (MS) at a start time prespecified in said request for communication capacity; wherein said cells being affected through said received request are automatically derived on the basis of mobility information defined in said received request.
19. A method to reserve communication capacity between at least one switching center in cellular mobile network and a mobile station roaming in said cellular mobile network, said method comprising the steps of: receiving at said switching center a request, from a subscriber using said mobile station (MS), for communication capacity; deriving cells covered by said switching center and being affected through said received request; determining a match between a communication capacity assignment profile and said requested communication capacity for all affected cells; reserving a communication channel according to said requested communication capacity between said switching center and said mobile station (MS) at a start time prespecified in said request for communication capacity; and dropping established communication channels due to said request for communication capacity.
20. The method according to claim 19 , further comprising the step of announcing said reservation for communication capacity.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
June 22, 1999
January 21, 2003
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